What about the War Brides?
Maggie Bension in the book shown was a (fictional) war bride/widow from Canada. Many other war brides came from overseas with their soldier husbands.
After WW1 54,000 civilians came to Canada with their soldier husbands and fathers. Although some War Brides and their children came from France and the Netherlands, most came from the UK.
Not all War Brides were welcomed by their husband's families or communities. Many Canadian young women were anticipating finding husbands among the returning men and weren't pleased the men been "snapped up" by British women. Husbands were is short supply as 3 to 4 milliion ben were killed during the war years. (All countries.) @ 61,000 of those men were Canadians.
The young women shipped from overseas had no idea what Canada was like. They were unprepared for the open, vacant, unpopulated spaces of the Western Prairies and the crudities of life on a homestead. Many ended up in small villages so unlike home and with no other “bride” in town. Strangers alone in a strange land.
One such British bride ended up in my mother's home village of Sherbrook, Nova Scotia. My grandmother (Lena Harriet (Marshal) Ross) befriended her and they were the BFF's of the time. Unfortunately, I don't know the woman's name. But at some point, the English gal gave my mother one of the prize possessions she'd brought from England--a china tea cup and saucer made in the 1800's.
The delicate teacup came down through the family with the story and now is displayed my home. It is a reminder of the importance of friendships and reaching out to those around us. A memento of a difficult time in our history.
What family mementos do you have? And what is the story behind them?
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Some interesting ones inckuding a journal written in blank verse from a relative who had served in India. Handwriting is impossible to read and has faded. Keep writing.
ReplyDeleteMy family cup and saucer is nowhere near as pretty as this but from the same era. It's one of the few family heirlooms I possess so is still a treasure.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story. Sounds like a beautiful friendship. I treasure a baby blanket hand cross-stitched by my childhood friend. She made it for my daughter Marya who recently became a mom. I passed on the blanket to her little son Desmond, who loves it as if he knows the care that went into it!
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